Animal Instincts
by kittyluv135
Summary: When the pack goes after a coven of witches Derek gets hit by a spell that reverts him back to his basic animalistic instincts. Stiles is there to help him through the experience while Derek seems more interested in claiming a mate.
1. Chapter 1

"Witches. Of course, why not? I was just thinking we didn't have enough supernatural crap on our hands already," Stiles exclaimed exasperatedly. He, Scott, Derek, Isaac, Kira, and Lydia were crowded around Deaton's operating table listening intently as Deaton gave them the rundown of the latest cause of mass homicide in Beacon Hills.

Deaton continued as if uninterrupted, "They're going to amass great power if they can complete the spell with the Nemeton on the full moon. Our best option is to strike now and try to prevent them from getting that far." "And how exactly do we fight witches? We're not exactly experts on them, if you hadn't noticed," Isaac interjected, earning a sideways glare from Derek who was trying not to lose his patience on all the distractions from the problem at hand.

"Witches are powerful, but not very fast at casting spells. If we can force one of these on the witches before they can do any damage," Deaton said as he placed what looked like a crown made out of branches on the table, "we can stop them from making any progress with their plans."

"What is this?" Kira asked as she picked up and examined the crown. "It's a crown made out of the branches of the rowan tree. It will stifle the witch's magic and can't be taken off by anyone who uses magic." Deaton replied.

"So once we put the crowns on them they'll be powerless?" Scott asked, taking the crown from Kira to look at it himself. "Precisely. However, I only have one crown fully made so I'm going to need help crafting the rest. Any volunteers?" Deaton asked, looking at the teens expectantly.

Everyone else turned to look at Stiles. "What? Why do I always get stuck with the lame jobs?" Stiles asked, waving his arms around to express how upset he was. "Well, I mean, the rest of us will probably be fighting the witches ourselves, so it's really only fair," Scott said sheepishly. "Well what about Lydia? She's not going to be fighting either, will she?" Stiles replied, somewhat offended that he had to pick up the slack just because everyone else had supernatural help.

"Lydia will be figuring out where the witches' hide out is. She should be able to focus her hearing to find where the source of the magic is coming from." Deaton replied while Lydia looked smugly back at Stiles. "Please?" Scott added, turning his puppy dog eyes onto maximum. Stiles groaned, but said, "Fine. But next time I get to go accessorize witches while the rest of you get splinters up the ass trying to make stupid crowns."


	2. Chapter 2

"You sure this is the right place?" Scott asked, looking at the ramshackle old barn in the woods. "It looks pretty deserted." "This is where the little voices keep telling me they are, and unless you have a better idea then I suggest we go with the resident psychic," Lydia said, folding her arms and looking at the barn."

Alright, come and get your witch crowns. Please be gentle, I spent eight hours crafting these suckers," Stiles announced, handing a crown to each of the teens. "There are some extra if you somehow manage to lose yours, but there's not enough for everyone to have a second so try and keep track of them," he added once everyone had one.

"You're sure these are going to work? Because if they don't we're walking into a hornet's nest with virtually no defenses," Derek asked, turning his crown over skeptically. "Have a little faith, Sourwolf. When have our plans ever failed?" Stiles quipped, giving Derek a smack on the back. Derek gave him a dead-pan stare a replied, "When haven't your plans failed?"

"The crowns will work," Deaton assured. "All you have to do is make sure that they get them on. They should be asleep right now, so stealth is the best plan of attack here. Good luck." Scott nodded and everyone but Deaton, Lydia, and Stiles started creeping towards the barn.

Once they were in, there were a few minutes of silence before an earsplitting screech rang through the air. "So much for stealth," muttered Stiles. A few seconds later the doors of the barn burst open and everybody ran out locked in fierce combat with a witch. They may not have been fast at casting spells, but they wielded enchanted knives that glowed with power that could do some serious damage.

Derek was fighting two at once, his eyes glowing blue as he roared, swiping his claws at them both. One witch started advancing on Derek, aggressively slashing her blade while the other held back and started chanting. "Derek!" Stiles yelled, grabbing one of the extra crowns and running towards them, ignoring Deaton and Lydia shouting for him not to.

The witch's back was turned to Stiles so he ran up behind her and jammed the crown on her head. The witch screamed and fell to the ground, unconscious. Both Derek and the other witch stopped moving for a moment, stunned, before the other witch screamed in fury for her fallen companion. She turned a hit Derek with unnatural strength, who was taken by surprise and flew into a tree, momentarily stunned.

The witch turned back to Stiles and said in a dark tone, "You'll pay for restraining my sister, you weakling." She then began to chant quickly, her eyes glowing blue as Stiles, now unarmed, looked around to see that the others were too involved in their own battles to help him. He could see Deaton and Lydia running towards him, but they wouldn't make it to him in time.

The witch finished her chant and sent a blue light flying at Stiles. Stiles watched as if in slow motion as the blue light came nearer and nearer, but seemed unable to move himself. Just before the light hit him, however, something huge and solid rammed into his side and pushed him out of the way and onto the ground. Stiles looked up to see Derek get hit by the spell and fall to the ground next to him.

"Derek," Stiles whispered, moving next to and shaking him. "You okay? C'mon dude, wake up!" Deaton appeared next to Stiles and began looking Derek over while Stiles turned to see that Lydia had crowned the witch that had cast the spell.

"He doesn't seem to be developing any physical injuries, so whatever the spell did must be affecting his mind,'' Deaton announced. "I won't be able to help him until he's awake and we can tell his symptoms. Help me move him, we need to get him back to the loft." The rest of the pack had managed the finish off the rest of the witches and were crowding around where Derek was lying on the grass. Scott quickly moved forward to help pick him up and they slowly made their way back to the cars.


	3. Chapter 3

Scott and Deaton laid Derek on his bed, Derek still dead to the world. "Why won't he wake up?" Scott asked, worry splayed across his face. "The spell's initial blast probably knocked him out, but unless it's a sleeping curse he should be up in a few hours," Deaton replied."Someone needs to stay with him until he wakes up to see what his symptoms are so I can figure out how to cure him. I would do it myself, but I need to negotiate with the witches to make sure they leave town and don't bring in more reinforcements."

"I'll do it," Stiles said, raising his hand and stepping nearer to the bed and looking at Derek. "He risked himself to protect me, it's the least I can do," he added quickly, turning away from Derek to look at Deaton.

Deaton nodded, saying, "Call me as soon as he wakes up, we don't know how serious it is yet," before sprinting off. "Want any company?" Scott asked, still looking pretty worried. "Naw, don't worry about it. Just stop off at my house and tell my dad what's going on will you? I don't want him to worry," Stiles replied, giving him a small smile.

Scott smiled back, then patted him on the arm before joining the rest of the pack who had filed out and headed for the elevator. Stiles sighed tiredly and pulled up a chair next to Derek's bed and sat down. It was going to be a long night.

Stiles didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but he was suddenly pulled back into consciousness by a low growling very nearby. He opened his eyes to see Derek, half wolfed out, growling at him from the bed, crouched in an aggressive position on all fours.

"Derek?" Stiles asked, getting up slowly, still groggy with sleep. Derek responded by letting out a roar and advancing further towards Stiles, still on all fours. "Woah! Take it easy, it's just me, Stiles, remember?" Stiles quickly started, backing up as quickly as he could. Derek didn't seem to understand and lunged at Stiles, making them both fall to the floor where Derek pinned him in under a second.

Derek bared his teeth and seemed about to bite Stiles' head off when he stopped growling and leaned forward, pressing his nose against Stiles' throat and inhaling deeply. Slowly he backed off and stood up, towering over a very confused and worried Stiles.

"Derek, what's going on? Why won't you just talk to-Gah!" Stiles was cut off mid sentence when Derek grabbed him by the waist and threw him over his shoulder. He walked back to the bed where he dropped Stiles unceremoniously on it before climbing on himself and positioning himself over Stiles.

"Look, Derek, I don't know what's going on with you, but you need to tell me what's wrong with you so Deaton can find you a cure and… a-are you scent marking me?" Derek had begun rubbing his face over Stiles' chest and arms, slowing moving on to his neck, the rest of his body pressed flush against Stiles'.

Once he seemed satisfied he wrapped his arms and legs around Stiles and relaxed, falling back into a light sleep. Stiles lay on his back with this giant weight acting as a human blanket, his arms pressed to Derek's chest. He tried to slowly wiggle out from underneath him, but his movement only caused a slight growl from Derek and a tighter grip that made it impossible to move any farther.

Stiles huffed in frustration and instead focused on getting his phone out from his jeans pocket without bothering the sleeping giant above him. After a few long minutes he finally managed to maneuver it out and dial Deaton, who picked up on the second ring.

"Stiles, is Derek awake? How is he feeling?" "He's, umm," Stiles paused, trying to find the right words to describe the situation, "he's awake-well, was awake-and acting really weird." "Weird how?" Deaton prompted. "Weird like, he's acting more like an actual wolf than a Sourwolf," Stiles said, as Derek shifted above him and then relaxed again in a more comfortable position.

"That's… troubling. Try to keep him calm and don't let him leave the loft, I'll be over there as quick as I can," Deaton finished, the sounds of keys jingling as he made to close the clinic audible over the phone. "Yeah, and hurry would you?" Stiles said as he hung up and resigned himself to being Derek's human teddy bear until Deaton showed up.


	4. Chapter 4

For the second time that night Stiles was woken up by the sound of low growling, this time coming from directly above him as Derek turned towards the door to the loft in his defensive crouching position again.

"Wha-what's happening?" Stiles mumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position as a key rattled in the door.

The door opened to reveal Deaton standing very carefully in the doorway as Derek let out a full roar and lowered into his crouch further, preparing to spring. "Whoa! Easy there buddy!" Stiles exclaimed hurriedly, jolting forward and wrapping his arms around Derek's torso, trying to keep him in place.

"That's just Deaton, he's your friend, remember? He's not gonna hurt you," Stiles reasoned to Derek who, although he could easily break out of Stiles' light grasp, allowed himself to be held back but maintained a steady yet quieter growl.

Deaton started to approach the bed but stopped halfway there when Derek let out a louder warning growl. He settled for lowering himself to a squatting position and examining Derek from that distance. "How long has he been like this?" he asked Stiles, not taking his gaze off Derek who in turn did not lower his glare.

"Um, pretty much since he woke up," Stiles answered. "Actually, he almost attacked me too, but he seemed to think I would make a better human teddy bear…so, any idea what's wrong with him?" Stiles added when Deaton didn't respond.

"My guess is that he's showing some very interesting effects from a mind-imprisonment spell, which traps the victim inside their own mind," Deaton replied after a moment, "The wolf-like behavior I can only attribute to his animal instincts taking over in place of his mind."

"Please tell me you know how to reverse it," Stiles pleaded while trying unsuccessfully to move one of his legs out from underneath the still crouching Derek.

"I can't say that I do. Furthermore, the coven leader informed me that the witch that cast the spell left the group, and without the original caster it will be especially difficult," Deaton answered, a worried look on his face as he slowly stood up.

"Wonderful," Stiles sighed frustratedly. "I know an emissary who specializes in witchcraft, I'll try and contact him and see if he knows anything that would help us," Deaton continued, "In the meantime it's probably best that you stay here and keep an eye on Derek since he's liable to hurt someone in his current state and you seem to have some control over him."

"Great, first I'm Mr. Arts-and-Crafts with the homemade crowns and now I'm werewolf babysitter," Stiles groaned as Deaton made his way back to the door. "I'll call you as soon as I have anything helpful," Deaton called as he closed the door behind him.

Stiles flopped back onto his back as Derek relaxed from his defensive stance, his claws and fangs slowly retracting. He then climbed back into his original position on top of Stiles, nuzzling his face into Stiles' neck and breathing in deeply.

Stiles let out a huff of breath as Derek's weight settled on him again, along with his somewhat restraining grasp. After a moment, however, he began to relax into the warmth and security, deciding that if he was going to be in charge of making sure Derek didn't kill someone in the near future, he was entitled to a few more hours of sleep.

Author's Note: Sorry that it's taken me so long to update, I was pretty busy during the last few months but I should be able to post more regularly now. Thanks for the feedback, it's always welcome!


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